Twitter connects with all the other forms of social media, (Facebook, Myspace, blogs, YouTube, Digg, etc.), allowing people to receive notifications from the Twitterers they are following of new blogs, Facebook updates, changes to websites, new Youtube videos or anything of interest by the Twitterer.  Advertising is being affected by Twitter as well, from opportunities to get paid to tweet embedded links for a company to offering technical support through Twitter for a company.  As for Dance, Dance Co., Twitter is definitely an option to consider as a social networking platform for promotion, especially since 63% of users are under 35, precisely the demographic dance schools are aimed at: Young coulples looking for social activities for their young children.

I think that Twitter could actually benefit members of the PWO rather than it helping to promote the PWO, which it would do as well.  While reading some research about Twitter, I came across a really cool website that lists tools that Twitter users could benefit from.  The “Just Tweet It” tool makes it easy for users to find other users with similar interests.  By using this tool, the PWO could come across other writers and perhaps find links to their blogs and websites.

Right now, my search of “writing clubs” is mostly turning up just random people tweeting about writing reports and songs, etc.  I did find a couple of users that linked back to their blogs with advice about writing.  Other than using the “Just Tweet It” tool to find other people with the same writing interests, I’m not really sure how the PWO could use twitter other than tweeting when our meetings are and when we’ll have guest speakers.  We’ll already be using our blog and Facebook to make those announcements and I’m not sure if people would really be interested in following the PWO on Twitter.

Five years ago from yesterday, the first tweet ever sent. (Click picture for article)

An interesting thing, Twitter. When I had first heard of it, I scoffed it off with the fervor afforded to a Facebook junkie, listening to the idea and thinking to myself, pah, I already have status updates, why would I need another one? And I was right, one doesn’t need to have two places to post what the cat is doing at the time, or what tests are keeping them up at night.

But Twitter offers more than just that. Twitter, much like Digg, requires content to reveal its true capabilities (such as a Facebook Group or a blog page). However, its presentation of this content is more clear than Facebook. Having a Twitter account not only allows the content to be followed, but to also to follow other, related content just as easily, and respond to the content without having to delve through the Facebook minutia. Twitter’s power is in its simplicity. If a company has a new product coming out, or an event scheduled, Twitter will be the best platform to get this simple information across to followers. It even allows people who list similar interests as the page to become followers, as Twitter gives a “Who to Follow/Interests” page to help with this.

If there is any disagreement that Twitter does have an affect on the world, check the reasons why AFLAC fired Gilbert Godfrey, the voice behind the Aflac Duck.

It is unfortunate that Paizo has not decided to capitalize on this media yet. While our Facebook page is quite helpful and informative, we could connect our Facebook updates to Twitter quite easily, therefore accomplishing the task of updating both with ease. Not to mention, Twitter is more helpful in establishing ongoing conversations with our customers and peers. Much like Digg, Twitter’s implementation would bolster the success of our already active blog and Facebook page, but Tweets can be as simple as upcoming events, or even statuses creatively involving our audience (interesting quotes or engaging questions from personal tabletop gaming experiences, for example, would help establish authenticity with our community).

Our existence as a company depends on our community, and Twitter is yet another tool whose micro-blogging ideas might become vital to not only keeping our company out of the red, but also trailing into the black.

Twitter didn’t experience the same success at its inception that FaceBook had. In the beginning, Twitter was maligned by many as being little more than a useless venue for people to “tweet” (post a very short blog) about meaningless thoughts or activities.

However, over the past few years it has grown in popularity, especially among celebrities and businesses as a fast, cheap way to promote themselves or a product. However, what good is a message if no one is around to hear it? The next step in the process is for someone with a Twitter account to gain a following. Celebrities are perfect for this medium because they bring their fan-base with them. In fact, Twitter has grown so  popular recently that business have begun to catch on to this, and in many cases actually pay a celebrity to “tweet” about their products.

Charlie Sheen- Twitter's New King

Knowing that Twitter can work spectacularly well for some, our company should definitely explore the advantages of using Twitter. There is already a fairly strong literary presence on Twitter. Many authors use Twitter to promote their newest work, and likewise, many literary magazines have created Twitter accounts to provide their readers with daily updates. Used in conjunction with FaceBook and a blog, Twitter could be a very efficient tool for us. All the social media formats could have links to one another, and cross-reference- all in real time. To quote the old proverb, “strike while the iron is hot,” and Twitter has never been hotter.

provided by rapidtweets.com

The Kern Organization is a marketing company that has over 9,200 followings, or accounts they keep up with and over 9,400 followers, or people who keep up with their page. They tweet an average of 10 to 12 times per hour. The majority of their tweets consist of links to their website on articles they have written as well as YouTube videos they created and even other projects related to their company. In contrast, Mesh Marketing has 378 followings and 371 followers. They tweet approximately 2 to 5 times a day, which consist of articles and YouTube videos linked to their website. The difference is they tweet more about their new projects and even have a “color inspiration of the day” to bring in followers.

There seems to be a direct correlation between number of tweets per day and number of followers, which basically translates to people are more interested in companies or individuals who continually post new information to their Twitter account. The more a company can stay relevant in the minds of their target audience the more likely they are to seek out the company’s services.

• Promote blog
• Mobile-friendly: the 140 character limit is ideal for mobile use, and updates can be received instantly
• Communication tool within a business

For the Professional Writing Organization, I think Twitter is definitely something to consider. It would be a quick and easy way to inform the group of announcements and meeting dates and times. It can also promote our blog by automatically posting the URL of new posts as a tweet. With the ability to connect our blog, Facebook, and Twitter, I think utilizing a Twitter account can only help. Everyone is constantly checking updates on their phones and laptops, so it would be very useful to quickly pass the word about what is going on with the PWO.

To get more followers, the PWO could also tweet about other things happening on campus. General CSU announcements as well as things specific to English majors; for example, Dr. Rendleman posted “Nominate Your CSU Professor for the Outstanding Teacher of Writing Award” on the Columbus State Writing Center’s twitter account.

For a technologically-advanced, fast-paced world, Twitter is a quick and easy way to get information out to your followers. For any group of people needing to share thoughts and info, Twitter is an excellent tool.

Facebook is something that PAWS Humane already utilizes, but they could definitely use more improvements!  Right now, they have a Facebook friend page, group page, AND fan page.  To me, this is a little much, so one of the main things I focused on was what type of page other shelter groups use.

The first shelter group I checked out was PAWS Atlanta.  PAWS Atlanta utilizes a fan page.  One reason I can see the benefits of this is the number of fans they have, 3,767 fans.  On friend pages, you can’t have any more then about 3,000 friends, so in this case, they would not be able to have as many friends as they do fans.  Pretty much they use their page to advertise their animals that are available for adoption.  People also post pictures of their recently adopted pets along with their stories.  An interesting thing that I noticed on their left toolbar was links to “Adoptions” and “Donations.”  As far as I know, this is not something that can be put on a regular friend page.

Another organization I looked at was PAWS Chicago.  Similarly to PAWS Atlanta, they utilized the fan page.  This makes a much bigger difference than PAWS Atlanta, because PAWS Chicago has 17,684 fans!  This number is definitely something they could not achieve if they had only a friend page.  They also post their current animals for adoption, but they also include information about fostering, volunteering, and events.  They also update it multiple times a day with multiple topics being posted.

Provided by GeorgeTwoPointOh.Wordpress.com

Twitter is an interesting form of social media. It is very hit-or-miss. If you do not have anything interesting or funny to say, Twitter will not serve you well. The most followed people on Twitter are Lady GaGa, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Barack Obama, and Kim Kardashian. With the exception of Obama, these people are all singers. Twitter is partially a popularity contest, but it is also about content. As a follower of Spears and Ga Ga, I know that their content includes song snippets, video releases, concert dates, and they even occasionally interact with fans on a one-on-one basis. Bieber provides fans with a non-stop flow of continuous tweets about himself. I am talking EVERY SINGLE THING he does. Obama tweets what he is working on currently, where he is giving speeches, and how he feels about issues going on in the world. Ms. Kardashian actually makes the most out of Twitter by advertizing beauty products – she gets paid on a per-tweet basis. Now that’s smart money!

Again, I would follow the model of Dish Network when it comes to Twitter. They have a staff of seven or so individuals who take shifts monitoring other people’s tweets about Dish Network. Using a service called “Track” they are able to see when anyone on Twitter mentions “Dish Network”. From there, they write a tweet to the person and ask if they can help them. If that person tweets back, they begin a Private or Public message back and forth to provide customer service to the individual. One day I was really upset about their service and I tweeted about it, not knowing they were on Twitter. Within two minutes, they had contacted me and offered assistance. Within five minutes, my problem was resolved. Not necessarily in the way I wanted it, but they did explain to me that the channel I had been watching was a free preview and the period for the preview had ended. By using this service, I can now save myself the trouble of calling customer service – something which I think no one likes to do. You can even private message them your account information and they can help you with technical account details like payments.

Yes, we now live in a world where “facebook” is a noun and a verb. It is not uncommon to hear phrases such as “facebook me,” or “I am facebooking” or “it’s facebook official.” It sounds crazy, but it’s true. Facebook is a part of our daily lives. It can have many negative affects on us, but for businesses and organizations it can be a positive form of marketing and a place for people to share thoughts and information.

The first type of social network that the PWO began using was Facebook. Our page was created last Spring, but it never really took off. Since almost students have a Facebook page and, let’s face it, spend a lot of time on the site, I set out to really utilize our group page in the Fall. I thought creating “events” would be a successful way of announcing meetings because it would show up on everyone’s “notifications.” A few people used the “I am/Am Not Attending” feature, but not as many as I had hoped. I think now that I have explored things such as the blog, it will be easier to connect all the sites and get everyone involved using widgets and connecting the blog posts to our Facebook page.

As Levinson says, Facebook groups are very easy and quick to create and use. They allow users to “discuss links, texts, photos, and videos of similar interest.” Levinson also states that not every group succeeds, as I have found with our Facebook page. However, our organization has grown a lot, and I think that a simple email and the use of widgets on the blog will really help. It will be great to begin using the two together to create a larger turnout at our meetings and when guest speakers come to campus.

Since there is a place for discussions, videos, and photos, our group page would also be a good place for posting videos and photos from events and discussing different things regarding Professional Writing.

There is one problem that I have run into that I haven’t been able to figure out. The group is “open” to everyone, yet it won’t let me “invite” people unless they have listed “Columbus State” as a network. I have searched all of the settings, but have not been able to change this yet.

What is myspace used for anymore? It used to rule the world but now it is only significant to a small group of individuals.  Facebook is the preferred online social media tool. At first myspace and facebook shared their users, but as time has passed, facebook has completely dominated.  Myspace is more attractive to a younger audience since you are able to personalize the background, music, and other options.  Facebook does not allow these changes; it is more for communication rather than an online personalizing toy, so it is attractive to a wider age group.  Kidz Park is aiming its advertising towards financially stable parents and grandparents of young children, which is primarily adults ages 23 to 50.  Since our company wants to advertise to a larger and higher age group, facebook would be an appropriate advertising tool.  Facebook will give us the same capability as a blog, meaning we will be able to update the parents of daycare activities as frequently as needed.  Facebook also allows sharing of pictures and videos.  Videos of the daycare can be broadcasted on facebook as an advertising tool for parents who are interested in joining the daycare.  Pictures can be used to share children’s art work or activities, granted the parent’s permission of course.  In order to not be forgotten by those who add Kidz Park on facebook, it is imperative that Kidz Park constantly update posts and pictures.

Want to find an old friend, or local activities and companies? Facebook is the place! Within Facebook there are networks. These networks connect you with people in the same city, country, workplace and even school. Networking with people around you on Facebook, it’s easy to find common things amongst one another, such as activities. In Columbus State’s case, it would benefit the recreation center to have a Facebook page, in which it would serve as a informational source for it users, and promote to others within the same network.  Facebook being as popular as it is, would be a great, informative source for Columbus State’s Recreation Center.

Facebook offers two types of pages. The first is a regular page, which has to be  friend requested. The regular page offers: photo uploads, wall posts, status updates, and informational section. The second type of page that Facebook is a fan page. The fan page does not require an accepted friend request to interact on the page, you can simply like the page. When the fan page is liked, it is immediately added to one’s activities. Unlike, a regular page on Facebook, the fan page has the option of posting discussions. This could be a good way to listen to the student body and improve the services that the recreation center offers. As far as promoting the usage of the facility and for informational purposes, I would recommend  a fan page, because it can be liked by anyone viewing the page; no friend request is necessary.

Not many school’s recreational facilities are utilizing Facebook, however, Valdosta State’s Recreation Center is on Facebook. Their page is a fan page, and includes information such as: the hours of operation, class schedules, photos of the facility and activities held there. The Columbus State Recreations Center’s Facebook, should be very similar to VSU’s. Since the majority of student’s dabble around Facebook, I think its a good way to inform the students about activities, hours, etc. We could also send out messages to supporters of the page updating them on the different activities that are being held.

Creating a Facebook fan page for CSU’s Recreation Center can only benefit its promotion. This form of social networking would be helpful in spreading the word of the recreation center’s activities, to people in the Columbus State or Columbus, GA network.

According to a recent study, it is estimated that 41.6% of the United States population has a Facebook account. That is 128.9  million of our neighbors around the country logging on and using the social networking site. The people of Columbus are certainly no exception. And not only are individuals utilizing the site as a means of social interaction and networking, but so too are businesses creating their own Facebook page as a method for advertising their company and providing information regarding their services and products. Facebook could possibly provide our best avenue through which to implement our social networking strategy.

Our local competitor, the Columbus School of Music and Dance, already has an active Facebook page. With 148 page “likes,” the CSMD’s Facebook seems mildly popular. The page gives a brief history of the school along with things like hours of operation, upcoming events and classes, and pictures of student performances and class sessions. The page also links back to the school’s official website which offers more in-depth information about its classes and services. The school seems to be using Facebook in a somewhat effective way as they do have some interaction of their wall with individuals with Facebook accounts of their own. It seems that this interaction is key in properly using the site for purposes such as ours.

The Atlanta Institute of Music, a company who’s online presence I have already praised in earlier exploratory writings, also has a Facebook account. Their page gives the same basic information as the Columbus School of Music but also has videos and more comments and conversations on their wall. With 863 likes, AIM certainly seems to be effectively using Facebook as another way in which to advertise their music school. Their use of more media and their interaction with people on their wall make AIM’s Facebook page more effective than that of the CSMD.

Whether it is a business or not, it is both a part of our social lives AND a significant business tool

Of course we know this is not the case, and quite the opposite. When it comes to social connections, asking if one has a Facebook is as common as exchanging phone numbers.

This leads into the more important concerns for Paizo, which are, can the implementation of Facebook further our company’s vision? I respond with an emphatic yes. As one of the most visited websites in the entire world wide web, connecting with our customers is absolutely viable.

But beyond its popularity,  in recent years Facebook has included many features into its design to assist businesses with their expansion. In particular are the sponsored advertisements offered in the right sidebar. These small boxes are generally filled with a thumbnail picture and a short, titled, descriptive sentence of the website in question. Once any area in the box is clicked, the user is sent to the corresponding advertised website.

You may be thinking this is nothing extraordinary, but the one thing that makes these advertisements special is their personalization. Each of these advertisements are put under a set of parameters that determine what topics it falls under, and are then compared to each Facebook user’s information and interests. Once those are determined, the advertisements are then shown to users whose interest correspond with the topic tags of the advertisements, and are shown to them. For example, fans of Wizards of the Coast or White Wolf, both big developers of role-playing products, would be shown Paizo products as well.

We are fortunate that we already have a very active and successful Facebook group created. We are using it to its best potential, which is to connect to our already present media (our blog, our website) so users can be up to date on our current products. Also, it is being used to advertise upcoming events, which is also a very effective tool for keeping connected to our fan base. Assuming that we begin to use Facebook advertisements, our explorations into Facebook will be well employed.

For Dance, Dance Co., the freedom to add videos and music to the profile page is worth a second glance.  Dance is about music and movement more than anything else, so why wouldn’t Myspace be a great option?  Unfortunately, Myspace has fallen to the wayside of social networking platforms.  Recently, Myspace has changed much of their format and layout to mimic the simplicity of Facebook.   And, although the profile page plays a major role in both Myspace and Facebook, other than identifying the author it does little in the way of actual networking; communication and connection with other members of such online communities.

Facebook, alternately, is not completely void of personalization, although it offers more in the way of professionalism.  The ease with which one can create a page, navigate and search interest groups and members, as well as maintain communication with ‘friends’ within the online community only further enhances Facebook’s reputation for integrating so many other forms of new new media, (i.e. Twitter, Digg, Youtube).  Facebook is the one-stop-social-networking-media-spot.  Dance, Dance Co., can link to the videos, blogs, and music from it’s Facebook page, though some may argue that the linking process takes up more time than embedding the audios and visuals as with Myspace’s HTML feature.

For Dance, Dance Co. both Myspace and Facebook offer extraordinary opportunities to connect with other dancers, dance schools and parents of potential dancers.  Facebook may have stomped Myspace into the ground due to it’s simplicity, but Myspace still offers features that may prove productive and fruitful to Dance, Dance Co.

The PWO is no stranger to Facebook.  Unfortunately for us, we have not properly utilized this tool since becoming a facet on Facebook.  Creating a Facebook account was one of the very first things the PWO did when it was first established.  As of right now, we have only 14 members.  I’m not even sure the newcomers to the organization are aware that we have a facebook page.  The last time we posted anything on the page is when Christie announced our first meeting of the 2010/2011 school year. 

While searching around for other writing groups on Facebook, I came across the Midwest Writing Center‘s page.  Although it is not exactly a writing organization, their layout is something that the PWO could follow.  When you create a group on facebook versus just a personal page, you will find a discussion tab.  Here you can do exactly that: discuss. In the Midwest Writing Center’s discussion tab, people have posted excerpts from their novels or screenplays and have asked others to comment on it and provide feedback.  There are links to personal blog pages as well as people sharing what their upcoming writing projects are.  I think this would be great to add to the PWO page.  It would be a place where we can share our own projects, as well as some school stuff we are working on and provide feedback for each other. 

CSU’s Creative Writing Club is also on Facebook.  I get something from their Facebook page at least once a month about open mic nights or meetings.  Dr. Sanders also partakes in posting things on their Facebook page, such as information about the new Creative Writing major and workshops he is hosting.  This is originally what the PWO had started our Facebook page for and I would like for us to get back to that.  I think that we should look into maybe sending a mass e-mail out to English majors inviting them to check our Facebook page out and friend us.

Facebook took almost everything MySpace did right and made it better. It simplified the “user page” medium. Facebook realized that people don’t really want endless possibilities, they want a simple, well thought out standard that everyone can use. And they succeeded. Facebook offers most of the options that MySpace does (there are some exceptions, like music playlists and customizable graphics on a users profile page) but they make it simple.

Allow me to give a personal example. My mother is 60 years old. She has seen MySpace. She uses Facebook.

Facebook is accessible to almost every generation still alive. It’s easy. It’s fun. You can share your thoughts, and re-connect with old friends. You can keep tabs on your children. The interface is flat out inviting.

What does this mean to our company?

Very little. Unfortunately, neither of the mediums are currently trending well in the world of fiction. However, Facebook is clearly the better of the two. As the time drains down toward final recommendations, I would suggest that if our company had to choose between the two platforms, I would suggest that we use Facebook. However, at this time, I wouldn’t rule out either one. MySpace still has a substantial user following, and it would be negligent to deny that. As we come closer toward laying out our marketing strategy, I would suggest that we don’t rule either one out just yet.

For example, Cohesion Marketing does a great job in posting a combination of articles. Some of the articles are written by the company while others are pulled from other websites. They have 1,068 “likes” or followers; however, they do not have much interaction with these followers. Their news feed consists solely of their own posts with little feedback from other people, which seems to suggest they are more concerned with gathering followers than retaining customers. PPC is another online advertising company, seems to do the opposite of Cohesion Marketing. Their page consists of other people posting but very few of their own posts; however, they do interact some if only to gain followers. Muscogee Moms, another marketing platform, is an online event calendar for Columbus, GA. They use Facebook to promote upcoming events and share information with mothers. They not only post 3 to 4 updates daily, they also have people who will post on their wall to create interaction with their followers.

Each company uses different ways to attract followers, some more effectively than others. What is most important is to give people a reason to want to “like” a business. Whether it is through the use of coupons or contests, companies need to give people a reason to stay updated.

Facebook can be used as a powerful advertising and customer service tool for NetTV. With it, we can use Facebook advertising. This program tracks users interest and displays ads relevant to them. Users who are interested in TV, technology, satellite, cable, or internet will see our ads. Facebook will also provide a powerful first hand customer service. I observed customer interaction on Dish Network’s Facebook page. I saw several instances where customers were venting their anger at a recent price increase. Dish Network wrote back several times explaining the various reasons for the price increase. Many customers were pleased with this response, those who did not continued to voice their disdain. At that point, Dish Network can simply ignore their complaints or repeat their answers – it is really up to them how they want to handle it. I think Facebook is a way for customers of a company to interact with one another, in some instances helping each other or sharing similar problems they are experiencing. By allowing ourselves into that world, we can help them directly and instantly without several phone calls.

In order to establish our short fiction website, we must recognize that the best way to “spread the word” about our endeavor is to generate traffic to it. Social media will be a key component in making that happen. The topic of social media has never been a more trendy subject than right now, and we must take advantage the various SM formats now, while the iron is hot. SM is influencing people all over the world, whether it be politically (Egypt, Libya, elections, etc.) for entertainment purposes (P2P) file sharing) news and fact gathering (Wikipedia), or a conglomeration of all the above, there has never been a better time to utilize these new technologies.

The task has been put forth to use to explore all the ways that social media can help us with this task. However, with each format we’ve looked at, we’ve discovered pros and cons. These pros and cons will be a large influence when it comes to what recommendations will be made in the final proposal.

So far, I’ve given preliminary thoughts about the following social media formats: Blogs, YouTube, Wikipedia (aka Wikis) and Digg. Coincidentally, so far, I would rank the formats in that order in terms of their potential usefulness to our program. Please bear in mind that all comments and observations so far by no means are an endorsement or commitment to use any of the above, nor have any of the formats been officially excluded from consideration. However, now that we’ve reached the mid-point in our project, I would consider it prudent to review the social media formats that we’ve gone studied so far.

Blogs

Our ultimate aim is to establish a website that features a variety of short fiction, and use social media to enhance the visitors experience.

Since blogs almost solely rely on the written word to convey a message, they seem to be a natural sibling of short fiction. In other words, it’s seems logical that people who like to read would be comfortable with blogs. From a technical standpoint, they are easy to create. From a user standpoint, they are easy to navigate. Another plus is that there are many online fiction communities that are already established. For example, the American Short Fiction Blog (see below) has had great success and built a strong fan-base. As you can see, they also incorporate Twitter on their blog as well. The ASFB model is definitely a good one for us to consider as we continue our exploration of social media. Another bonus is that you can attach links to other social media sites to a blog, so readers can easily click a link and be re-routed for easy transport to another website and/or application that is relevant to the topic.

The American Short Fiction Blog

YOUTUBE

YouTube is among the most popular of the new social media formats, with good reason. They say “seeing is believing” and YouTube gives its audience a chance to do just that at the press of a button. For example, let’s say one wants to learn how to install a new garbage disposal. They could do a “Google-search” on “how to change a garbage disposal” and myriad links will come up providing them with written instructions on how to do it. However, if one does the same search on YouTube, they will be provided with numerous videos of users that show them how to do it, which many people will find preferable than written instructions. Besides the myriad “do-it-yourself” practical uses for YouTube, there is an also a seemingly endless supply of user submitted videos that cover thousands of other topics. One may find clips (or in come cases full versions) of their favorite television shows, movies, music videos and much more.

From a business sense, a YouTube account holder’s most important objective would be to maximize views and viewer subscriptions to their YouTube channel. Creating an account is easy, and it too can be linked with other social media formats, like Facebook, Twitter, and Digg.

In the clip below is a video that gives writer’s advice on publishing their work.

YouTube is an interesting possibility to consider going forward, as we decide how to best utilize social media as the deadline for the final proposal draws near.

WIKIPEDIA (WIKIS)

Wikipedia is for all intents and purposes, a sort of online encyclopedia. One can go to the homepage, type in a word or topic, and chances are that Wikipedia will be able to provide them with a good, general explanation of what the subject is, and its history. The benefit of this is that is saves the user time, because they don’t have to go dig up a dictionary or encyclopedia if he or she wants to know about something. This comes with a caveat however. It is universally accepted that Wikipedia isn’t always right, thus bringing its credibility into question frequently. This is mainly because the data that Wikipedia provides is chosen by a select # of online editors, and that any Wikipedia user can edit (at least temporarily) the information about a subject. There are some exceptions to this, but regardless, there is some risk to using it as a concrete reference tool, and scholar’s typically denounce its use as such.

This is not say that the “Wiki” system should be ruled out as a potential resource for our purposes. At the very least, our organization would benefit simply by being listed on Wikipedia. We should take the approach that in the beginning, any exposure is good exposure.

“Wikis” are similar to Wikipedia given that they can give information on a particular topic, however Wiki’s tend to be much more specialized to a given subject. For our purposes, a specialized Wiki devoted to short fiction would be much more useful than Wikipedia itself. A good example of this is the creative writing wiki . This Wiki is devoted to many facets of writing in general and can direct users to websites, blogs and other tools that might be useful to a writer. The potential of the wiki seems promising.

DIGG

Digg is a social media community that is best known for its system of sorting relevant articles or stories based on its popularity among Digg users. Basically, if a user likes a story, he or she can choose to “digg” it by clicking on a link next to the story. Articles with the most “diggs” will be shown ahead of others with less “diggs.” The most extremely popular articles will be shown on the Digg homepage, a coveted spot for those seeking large traffic for their own blogs or websites.

However, there has been some controversy about the integrity of the Digg system. There are those who claim that a handful of subscribers have manipulated the system and have a shared monopoly of traffic visiting the site.

Furthermore, it is unclear that if Digg could be of much use to our own enterprise. After doing some research, I have found that it takes a while of “digging” through articles before finding relevant topics about short fiction communities and helping to promote them.

With that said, there would certainly be no harm in utilizing a Digg link on any one of the other social networking sites. As this project progresses, we will continue to try to find practical uses for it.

Social media and networks are playing an ever-growing role in today’s society, and I certainly think there are plenty of possibilities regarding how we can incorporate them into our venture. One of the biggest positives about all of those mentioned above is the possibility of interlinking them to one another, which gives a chance to reach users through each platform. In the final summary, I will give another comprehensive analysis of those mentioned in this report, and more, like Facebook and MySpace.

Within the organization itself, I think we can make use of Digg; not necessarily to get the most “diggs” on the site, but just as a central hub for the group to share things. The section in the chapter titled “Friends in New New Media” talks about what exactly it means to be a “friend” on Digg. Basically, a friend is not necessarily someone you know like on Facebook. It is simply someone who shares the same interest as you do. You first become a “fan” of the user, and then if they become a “fan” back, then you are “friends.” If you are a fan or a friend of a user, you can easily find articles that they have posted. This is where I think the PWO can make use of Digg. If all professional writing majors become members of Digg, it can be a good place to post job listings that we find. In addition to job postings, we can share any information concerning the professional writing field. If we become friends of one another, we can have easy access to everyone’s findings.

Once we start posting some of our own writing on our blog, then it would be a good idea to put these links on Digg. At that point, we would not be looking to share with each other, but looking to get “diggs” from other users and getting our work out there. Overall, I think Digg is something that we can definitely look into using for Professional Writing majors.

I noticed that most of the pages on Digg that were animal related were posted by either individuals or other animal groups like PAWS.  I will admit though, everything was pretty slim pickings, but I do think that if PAWS utilized Digg, then they would be able to add more articles/pages to be “dug” while also linking them to things like Facebook and Twitter.

It would also be beneficial to have people, such as employees and day care members, “digg” the link so that it becomes more popular.  People searching for  child care in the area will then be drawn to the link because of its popularity.  While searching for “child care” on digg, no specific child care center link comes up, but there are news articles about particular daycares, good and bad, so digg could be used as good publicity for my business.

In conclusion, digg would be most beneficial to a large business since smaller business would most likely have their links “buried.”  However, for advertisement purposes, it is worth a try to add information about my business onto the digg website.

My search for “music lessons” and “guitar lessons” brought up many articles, most of which were unpopular and buried. However, the few links that were popular (with over 2,000 diggs) had something in common–they were not articles at all. Instead of news or writing concerned with music lessons, these were links to interactive music instruction websites. Ricci Adams’ Musictheory.net is one that I found quite impressive, as it offers a great deal of information on music theory and provides an easy Flash format website that make the lessons simple and more fun than most sites I have seen. The website does not go too in depth with the lessons but manages to be a good starting point for beginners. Should I use Digg with my music academy, I could similarly link my website or blog through Digg.  I would definitely have to use a model similar to that of Musictheory.net  in order to ensure that people would “digg” my page. While a small Georgia music academy’s website may never be featured as a top story on Digg, using the site could prove somewhat helpful as a possible secondary online community. Digg could be a subtle, yet very easy extra web service to employ for my music company.

Exploring the world of Digg, has been like learning a new language. It’s an interesting way of stay up to date on current world news, local news, or anything that may appeal to you. According to Levison, “articles that appear on Digg are published elsewhere online and selected–in the case of Digg, “Dug”—by readers to appear on its front pages. ” (100).

For the CSU’s Student Recreation Center, or student life at large, I think that Digg proposes an opportunity for the student body, as well as faculty and staff,  to come together, in order to make activities, etc., known to the community. That would make the recreation center local news to the Columbus area, which in turn would invite more than just students to enjoy the facility.

I feel that it will bring the campus together because it’s an opportunity for students to Digg, together,  in order to “digg” and promote their favorite news articles about the student recreation center. Since it’s available for anyone to post on Digg, I think it would be interesting to see what students, faculty, and staff have to say about the facility; those articles can either be “dug” or not. Digg is great way for the improvement of student life within the recreation center.

While researching Digg, I did come across a couple articles about Columbus State University. Since Digg is unfamiliar amongst many students, I do expect that it would take time for this idea to get off the ground. But I do feel that experimenting with Digg for the student recreation center, can only benefit our campus.

The demographics of Digg users. Stationed in San Francisco, I'm not surprised.

a lot like Digg with having a like and dislike system, much like Digging and Burying. However, Digg seems to focus more on articles and written media, although these posts can generally have video or pictures attached to them. Also, instead of browsing the many articles that are ‘dugg’ on that particular day, or checking to see if the sites you follow have new posts, it instead has a button you press that sends you to random site, all based on your preferences and likes which you assign to your account.

Nonetheless, Digg impresses me with its variety of content and sites that it follows. In the Upcoming section of stories, there is a wide array of topics to choose from, and the truly knowledge-hungry could not grow bored. I can definitely see it as a great boon to marketing and advertisement. The more Diggs you get, the more notoriety you may attain, which is an interesting prospect. It is true that “gaming” can be wide and rampant, but if kept under check and if one uses the proper channels to contact the administrators, gaming can be kept to a minimum.

The most interesting prospect I have noticed so far is how immediate posts seem to go up, as well as the  connectivity of Digg’s social structure. I had created a Digg account only a week ago, and searched for topics relevant to the company I am looking to advertise for, and I found a topic worth commenting on. I saw a few people had left words on the topic in particular, and decided to respond to their commentary. Within the span of 10 minutes, I already had someone ‘following me’, that is, keeping tabs with what sites I like and will share. Checking my account today, I actually have 3 followers now, all because of the one article I decided to comment on. Digg seems to have an interesting community, and shows immense value for personal or corporate use.